Spooled wire



Sept. 25, 1923.

SPOOLED WIRE Filed Aug. 26. 1922 Patented Sept. 25, 1923.

UNITED STATES 1,468,994 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN COOK, OF RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO COBNISH WIRE COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SPOOLED WIRE.

Application filed August 26, 1822. Serial No. 584,403.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN Coon, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Ridgewood, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have made and mvented certain new and useful Improvements in Spooled Wire, of which the following is a s cification.

My invention relates to spooled wire and has for its object to provide an article or package of this character which will be neat in appearance, rugged and durable so as to successfully withstand handling dur ing its merchandising or sale, will be free from all danger of becoming entangled wlth similar and adjacent packages or articles of wire, and, further, will be composed of two or more spools connected together and wound from a single length of wire, so that the package may be bought by the customer in its entirety and a single length of wire thereby obtained, or any one of the several units going to make up the package may be severed from the rest and sold as a unit at a popular fixed price.

In the merchandising of spooled wire, and particularly by the so-called chain stores, each spool must not exceed a fixed maximum price, so that a single spool must necessarily contain a considerably less quantity or length of wire than is essential for the winding of various wireless coils and allied apparatus. Furthermore in the winding of these coils it is highly desirable that a single length of wire be used and it accordingly has been the practice in the past to wind two or more spools from a single length of wire and leave a loop of one or two inches of wire extending between and connecting the spools. It has been found, however, that when a number of these connected spools are placed together in a tray for display and sale to the public the spools become entangled together; further, that when one of the spools is lifted the entire Weight of the attached spool and any entangled spools is brought to bear upon the tacks which hold the wire against unwinding from the spools, with the result that a considerable quantity of spools and wire is lost due to this intertangllng of the spools and to the tacks being torn out and the wire unwinding from the spools caused by the handling and sorting over by the public and oftentimes an entire tray containing perhaps a gross or more of spooled wire becomes hopelessly tangled and lost.

It is accordingly among the objects of the present invention to provide a package or article made up of two or more spools of wire and so connected and joined .together as to overcome the above-mentioned -objections and difficulties and to so arrange the spools and the component parts that not only are the spools prevented from becoming entangled with adjacent spools but. further, when one of the spools is picked up the connected spools will be raised without bringing any stresses or forces to 'bear upon the wire which extends between the several connected spools so that there will be no strain brought to bear upon the tacks which hold the wire against unwinding from the several spools.

A further object is to accomplish the aforementioned ends in an expeditious, economical and thoroughly practical manner and in such a way as to aid in the spooling of the wire, as well as providing the above-mentioned advantages in the merchandising of the wire, and with the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel package or article of spooled wire illustrated in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described and claimed, and in such variations and modifications thereof as will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which my invention relates, it being understood that changes may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit thereof.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawin s, wherein:

igure 1 is a view in elevation of my novel package or article of spooled wire;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same;

Figure 3 is a view in cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Fi re 1; and

Figure 4 is a simllar view showing a somewhat modified form of my inventlon.

- Referring specifically to the several views, wherein similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout, three wooden spools 10 are provided with the usual longitudinal openings 11 and in which I place a round rod 12 and of such length that when, as illustrated in Figure 2, the

spools are mounted thereon the rod falls a slight distance within the outer free extremities of the end spools. The rod 12 is preferably formed of wood so as not to materially increase the cost of the package or article of spooled wire and snugly fits the openings 11.

The spools 10 are preferably mounted upon the rod 12 prior to being wound with the wire and are placed within the wire winding machine and held tightly together as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. A single length of wire 13 is then wound upon the spools 11, starting at one end as at 14, and winding a given amount upon the first spool as at 15 Thewire is then held against unwinding by a suitable tack 16, is then passed directly across to the next and ad acent spool and secured thereto by a second tack 17. The connecting link of wire 18, extending exactly parallel to the axis of the two spools and being drawn tightly across the intervening space between the tacks 16 and 17, holds the spools tightly together. The second spool is then wound as at 19 and the wire again tacked as at 20. It is then bridged across the intervening space between the adjacent spools and again tacked at 21. The third spool is then wound as at 22 and the outermost end of the wire secured in place by the tack 23.

Thus the three spools illustrated are wound with a single length of wire, and in winding a coil for radio or other use the tack 23 is removed and the wire withdrawn from this end. The three connected spools are then removed from the wire winding machine together with the rod 12, or in certain types of wire winding machines the spools will be wound without the rod 12, and which rod will be inserted in place after the wound spools are removed from the machine. After the wire has thus been wound upon the spools and the rod 12 properly contained within the central openings thereof, 1 close the outermost ends of the openings 11 by placing thereacross the members 24, the same being preferably in the form of heavy paper labels suitably inscribed as to turers name or trade-mark and carrying a suitable description of the properties or qualities of the wire, and the number of feet upon each of the connected spools. The hole-closing members 24 thus seal the free ends of the openings and prevent the rod from becoming detached from "the spools, so that any bending movement such as caused by grasping one spool and raising the other two thereby is taken up and borne by the rod 12, the same being sufficiently rigid to revent any bending force to be transmitt to the connecting links of wire 18 between adjacent spools which would tend to sever or break the same and the manufacalso pull out the tacks 16, 17, 20 and 21. Thus the only force which can be brought to bear upon the connecting links of wire 18 will be a direct end thrust, and in those instances where the rod 12 fits snugly within the openings 11 even this end thrust will be taken up by the friction between the rod and the side walls of the spool openings.

A somewhat modified form of my invention is illustrated in Figure 4, wherein it will be observed that the rod 25 is of polygonal cross-section, preferably square, and being made slightly oversize or sli htly greater across the diagonals than the iameter of the openings 11 will form a driving fit with the side walls of the bore of the spools, so that the rod will aid in the driving of the spools as the wire is being wound thereon. Further, the driving fit will prevent any tension being brought to bear upon the connecting links of wire which bridge adjacent spools.

With the two or more spools connected together and made up as previously outlined, a very merchandisable package is obtained, not only presenting a neat and pleasing appearance but one which will be readily susceptible to being placed in trays for display and direct sale to the public; and, further, the package will stand considerable handling without danger of becomino entangled in adjacent packages and without danger of the tacks being accidentally withdrawn from the spools and the wire thus loosened and entangled on the various spools.

Having thus described my invention, E claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent:

1. A package of the character described comprising two or more spools held in juXta-posed position, a single length of wire wound upon said spools and having portions of the wire fastened to the spools and extending between the ends thereof, and means within the outer dimensions of the package for holding said spools substantially in axial alinement.

2. A package of the character described comprising two or more spools held in juxta-posed position, a single length of wire wound upon said spools and having ortions of the wire fastened to and exten ing between flanges of the spools, and means extending through the several spools and holding said spools substantially in axial alinement.

.3. A package of the character described comprising two or more spools having openings extending therethrough, a single length of wire wound upon said spools and having intermediate portions of the wire fastened to and extending between flanges of the spools, a rod located within said openings in the several spools and. holding the same substantially in axial alinement and means for holding the said rod within the openings in the several spools.

4. A package of the character described comprising two or more spools having openings extending therethrough, a single length of wire wound uponsaid spools and havin intermediate portions of the wire fastene to and extending between flanges of the spools, a rod located within said openings in the several spools, and holding the same substantially in axial alinement, and labels extending across the outer end of the end spools.

5. A package of'the character described comprising two or more spools having openings extending therethrough, a single length ing'said spools against lateral separation and. the wire from unwinding, a rod located with said openings in the several spools and holding said spools in axial alinement, and labels extending across the outer ends of the end spools.

Signed at. New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 25th day of August,

JOHN 000K. Witnesses:

ISABELLE Rosa, ANNE V. WALSH. 

